Thursday, February 10, 2011

"Mint.com has upgraded its iPhone app to free users from the tyranny of needing a desktop computer to organize their finances-but it is leaving users of older iOS operating systems behind."

The Mint app is handy, but I don't rely solely on it for my financial information since the updates routed through this app from the bank or credit card company have always been a bit delayed. But it does work well for friendly reminders on due dates for bills, balance checks, and budgeting. Now with this update you don't even need a desktop to manage the information or to sign up for the service. However, you will also need to drop your old beat up iOS 3.x software to use it.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

"The App Store is filled with apps that allow you to you translate text from one language to another. They have various levels of complexity and sophistication, some are very basic text-only translators, some are more advanced like the incredible Word Lense. Nevertheless, despite powering most of these apps, Google didn't have one of it own."

Well now they do have something to offer with this iPhone app, free by the way, called Google Translate [link]. It supports 57 languages and has speech recognition for 15 languages. Nice addition to the Google family as long as it works ok, and I have yet to test it out.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

"Apple issued a surprisingly timely response to a claim made by the New York Times that suggested the company might bar iOS apps that sell content outside of Apple's software market within iTunes."

It's been quite the story since yesterday, with Sony coming in late to the e-reader app game and getting shut down by Apple, while existing e-book apps such as Kindle and Nook are still allowed to go out of app for purchases. And it took less than a day for Apple to issue a response, and in fact it came out the same day as they tried to do damage control with the "end of the world" story lines that were cropping up. According to Apple, and also independent developers, the guidelines have not changed but they have changed how they are making developers comply with them. Apple wants apps to allow users to purchase in-app obviously since they get a 30% cut, so if they can purchase outside the app Apple wants the option for the same purchase to be available in-app. Seems reasonable since Apple is bringing the infrastructure for sales to the table, all they ask is the "option" for a piece of the pie. That being said, I do see why developers would be upset about it because, if the price were the same either way, why wouldn't I take the easy route and go in-app, thus cutting into the developers payment. While some would pay attention to this and make sure developers got their share by going outside the app, most people would go in-app due to convenience. What are your thoughts now that the dust has settled on this issue? Any predictions about what will happen to the existing apps such as the Kindle?

Monday, January 31, 2011

"If you're a Quicken user there's no doubt that you've been disappointed over the last several years with diminishing value in what was once the preeminent personal finance application on the Mac. IGG Software is set to fix what ails you."

The best thing about this software, is that you can try it for 30 days without purchasing. And I don't mean a scaled down version that is limited; it has all the bells and whistles. That is one reason why I started using it and continue to use it. I also feel like it is one of the easiest to use, and I've used several including several variations of Quicken. If you are looking for a good money management/banking program, this one might fill your needs so is worth a look. They also have an iPhone app that syncs via the cloud, so you have the same info on your home/laptop computer and your iPhone. It's available from the IG Software site or you can pick it up in the App Store [affiliate link], both are priced at $59.95 USD. Be warned, however, that the 30 day trial isn't set up if you go through the App Store. The iPhone version can be purchases from iTunes for $4.99 USD [affiliate link].

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

"Adobe has updated Photoshop Express for iOS 4.2 devices, and it now supports the Retina Display for better quality images. The app is faster and more responsive and adds background uploads and multitasking support."

Lots of improvements in this (still) free app for iOS 4.2 devices. The app looks better, runs noticeably faster, and is a must-have for my iPhone photography toolkit. It is a big plus to be able to make minor corrections/improvements in photos right on the iphone. Some reports of features disappearing if location services are not enabled, but, all-in-all, a great app, especially for the price.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

"Here's a question. You're in the iPhone mail app, and you're looking at your inbox, when a new email arrives. What happens?"

A very thorough discussion and dissection on one process from the mail app that is used in iOS. In this case, the answer depends on where you are on your list of emails. If you are down past the 3rd email in the list then you get the notifications ie sounds that you normally get when a new email arrives but you aren't brought back to the top to see it automatically. If you are less than three emails down, then you are automatically brought back to the top to see the new email. It certainly saves you from being aggravated if you are 20 or 30 emails down and suddenly scrolled back up to see an email that may or may not be important. It is just another example of the attention to detail that has been shown time and time again with the iOS.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

"Yesterday, Microsoft launched its first Office app for iOS, a mobile version of the digital notebook application OneNote. If you've never heard of it, it may be because you're using the Mac version of Office, which lacks OneNote, greatly reducing the usability of the iOS app."

It is free for now, so if you want to give it a try there is no risk. I've messed around with it a little bit, and while I like it for the most part, I still resort to using the Notes app that comes with iOS and Simplenote. One thing that this program requires is a Windows Live account so if you don't have that, you need to get one or just skip this program. The reason is they use the account for syncing, but only for Windows machines, so it is rather annoying to be honest. Still, there are some nice things like being able to add a photo to a note. I'm not sold on it so I'm taking it off my phone but like I said, it is free so you have nothing to lose if you don't like it and erase it from your iPhone.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

"As early generation iOS-based devices truly start showing their technological age, and being left out of the latest and greatest features, how many iDevice users have the latest version of Apple’s mobile OS on their devices? One iOS developer chose to share some numbers that give us a bit of an insight."

While I'm always wary of numbers that don't come from official sources, these are probably the best numbers we're going to get unless Apple announces them at the next event. According to data supplied by Bump Technologies and Loopt, almost 90% of people with iOS devices are using some version of iOS 4. More than 50% are using the most current version, iOS 4.2.1. That's a lot of updates. The linked article also mentions that less than 1% of Android users are using the most current version of Android(though that's generally the fault of the manufacturers, not Google.) Have you updated to iOS 4?

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

"Netflix, the streaming movie and DVD subscription service, announced this morning that it would no longer allow users to add DVDs to their queue from the device they use to watch instantly."

I find this rather annoying, as I like to manipulate my Netflix que from my iPhone and iPad and I do it on a regular basis. If you are on the plan where you get physical DVDs like I am, I see no logical reason for this move. If you are on the streaming, since they have improved their search capabilities so much with recent updates, I can see why you wouldn't need it so why can't they make it subscription specific? Is the coding that much of a burden? What are your thoughts?

Monday, January 17, 2011

"As of today, nearly 10 billion apps have been downloaded from the App Store worldwide. Which is almost as amazing as the apps themselves. So we want to say thanks. Download the 10 billionth app, and you could win a US $10,000 iTunes Gift Card. Just visit the App Store, and download what could be your best app yet."

The figure above was taken at about 10:58am Pacific time, and at the rate of 1,147,333 apps per hour (according to Cult of Mac), the prediction is early Friday morning this week for the 10 billionth download. If you don't want to download an app, fear not as you can enter simply by filling out this form at Apple (you can enter up to 25 times per day too). Good luck!

Friday, January 14, 2011

"Google announced Thursday the release of Google Places for iPhone, a combination of Google's Hotspot and Google Maps that you can use to find restaurants (etc.) near you. This standalone app is effectively an effort to out-Yelp Yelp by offering search results that are ranked and affected by your own ratings and the ratings of your friends."

I use Yelp for most of my recommendations or searches, although for the last couple months I really haven't been out enough to bother. I like that it's integrated with Google Maps but I would expect no less, and it's free and available now in iTunes. I plan on using Yelp again but I think I will also give this a go, how about you? What do you use to get your recommendations for restaurants, bars, etc?

Thursday, January 13, 2011

"App stores are fine if you trust the store's recommendations on big categories like music or games. But one of the best things about owning a smartphone is the apps for your personal hobbies."

And he is right, trying to narrow down your search in the Mac App Store or the iOS one is pretty hard to do. I would hope that we are your source for some of them, but of course we aren't a dedicated app review site so where do you go to get your treasures? AppShopper and AppExplorer are Apple only search engines for your mobile device and one that caters to both Apple and Android is called Appolicious. For the new Mac App Store there is a site called "Mac Apps That Rock" that offers examples of, well, apps that rock according to them. So, where do you go to get your app information?

"Apple on Wednesday released the first beta of iOS 4.3 for the iPhone, iPad and Apple TV, bringing support for Personal Hotspot, new multi-touch gestures, the ability for third-party applications to use AirPlay, and a software option for changing the functionality of the iPad hardware switch."

Within this version of iOS 4.3, they are including some new gestures for iPad involving 4 and 5 finger gestures, which sounds odd to me, but I guess I should reserve judgement until the final product is out. What it also apparently does though, is bring back the orientation lock, as it gives you the option to set it up as either a mute switch or orientation lock in the settings. So glad they are giving us this option back. There are some other additions, notably the ability to create a personal "hotspot" just like the Verizon iPhone will do, so apparently this isn't carrier specific. Some good additions to this version of the iOS I think, but the bad news is it appears that the 3G owners are left out in the cold as it appears it is only compatible with iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, third- and fourth-gen iPod touches, and iPads.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

"We liked the idea of the iRadar when we first heard about it, and Cobra put the device front and center at its CES 2011 booth (well, right next to the girls in skimpy police uniforms). The iRadar is a radar detector that hooks right up to Cobra's official iPhone app, and it will not only alert you when you see speed radar units out on the road, but it will also tune in to two different services."

Slick interface that will alert you to speed traps that other iRadar owners have driven through, all without any intervention on your part. It also keeps a list of red light cameras and speed traps in it's database that will alert you should you venture into any of these territories. The retail price is set to be $129.00 USD for the radar detector and the software is free, since they figure you are helping them provide a service to the other owners I suppose. Just the distraction you need right? Who knows, it might just pay for itself in one use. You can find out more about it at the Cobra site.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

"In two days, the Mac App Store will open its gates.While there is the usual amount of speculation out there on technicalities and its potential overall success, it seems widely unclear what will happen on Opening Day."

Opening day is here so today we will find out just how on the mark he is won't we. It's an interesting article, and I don't think he is that far off. In my mind anyway, I'm expecting similar prices to what is in the iOS app store, or not too far off. I also expect that magazines in digital form should be at least half the price one would pay for a print subscription, so you can see that I get disappointed a lot. But he has a valid point in that a lot of the iOS developers will be porting their product to the Mac App store, having been used to that functionality more so than the old guard of Mac OS developers that stick to the double digit price point. So what are your thoughts, hit or miss on the Mac App store?

I can only imagine what this graph would look like if/when Apple brings the iPhone to Verizon, but if I had to guess I'd say that the spread between Apple and Android would widen considerably, and RIM wouldn't be so close to either of them. Regardless, the real news is the death of non-smartphones, as 45% of those picking up a new phone opted for a smartphone, and why wouldn't they with all the discounted choices out there. I think 2011 is going to be an interesting year in the smartphone marketplace, what are your thoughts?.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

"iPhone owners cheering in the new year may be in for a surprise Saturday morning thanks to an iOS bug that seems to prevent one-time alarms from sounding once their clock rolls over into 2011. The bug apparently impacts devices running iOS 4.0.2 and higher, and alarms that were set both before and after the new year transition."

Hmmm, ran into this myself this morning when my alarm didn't go off at 4am like it was supposed to do. No matter since the party was still going on at a neighbor's house so I was awake anyway. But this is good to know for tomorrow and Monday, so the fix is a simple change to your alarm. All you have to do is make is a recurring alarm by going into edit mode and selecting every day of the week for the alarm. It will then display as "Every Day Alarm" on the screen above instead of simply "Alarm." This is supposed to be corrected on January 3rd so to be safe, set yourself one alarm as recurring and one as normal and see what happens. If both go off I'd say you can discontinue your recurring alarms.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

"Apple's iOS is still a much better platform for developers, and will remain so for a long time, says Angry Birds development lead Peter Vesterbacka in an interview to Tech N Marketing."

A developer friend of mine asked my opinion of the various mobile marketplaces, and I have to say that I came to the same conclusion Mr. Vesterbacka came to. Anecdotally I've noticed that people with iOS devices are more likely to purchase apps, while people on Android devices tend to look for free apps. I suggested that my developer friend write for iOS first, and the other markets as he had time. What do you think: Will the iOS marketplace remain the #1 market for developers for the foreseeable future?

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

"Someone must really like you -- otherwise, how did you end up with an iPhone this holiday season? Yeah, we know, iPads don't really fit into stockings. Besides, your parent or significant other got you an arguably better gift in the cheaper (with two-year contract, of course), more compact, and more recently updated iPhone 4."

A good mixture of paid and free apps that they deem essential (can you sense a theme to the posts today?), and I certainly agree on Dropbox, Pandora and the Kindle App. And I highly recommend the Shazam app as well as Find My iPhone. The rest I think aren't on my top ten but are definitely worth considering. I round out my apps with several banking and of course Twitter and Facebook. So for those new iPhone owners out there, what do you veteran iPhone owners suggest for apps they might get the most from?